One of two people arrested in a fatal stabbing over the weekend of a Twin Cities man visiting bars in Hudson, Wis., has been charged with numerous felonies.
William C. Davidson Jr., 24, of Blaine, was charged Tuesday in St. Croix County District Court with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, battery and disorderly conduct in connect with the death early Sunday of 26-year-old Cain W. Solheim, of New Brighton.
Solheim was one of three people stabbed during the incident outside the Smilin' Moose bar downtown, police said. The other two were taken to Regions Hospital and have so far survived, but authorities have not released their identities or their conditions.
Davidson was arrested and jailed in Anoka County, where he remains held pending extradition to Wisconsin. A second suspect, a 22-year-old woman from Blaine, also was arrested Monday in Anoka County. She has since been released, and charges against her are pending.
The stabbings occurred as bar closing time neared in the city just to the east of Minnesota, a state where restaurants and bars are banned from indoor service in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. That restriction has sent Minnesotans into Hudson and other nearby towns in Wisconsin, where there dining and drinking alcohol indoors continues.
The influx of out-of-state patrons is being blamed for a surge in criminal activity in Hudson, whose Common Council swiftly put in place Tuesday night a curfew for the next four Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays that ends indoor liquor sales at 10 p.m.
On the same night of the deadly incident, Kevin Hanson wrote on Facebook that his stepson was "brutally murdered … in front of the Smilin' Moose bar along with two other friends who were stabbed as well all coming to the aid of a much smaller friend" whose life "most likely was spared due to my son's ultimate sacrifice!"
According to the charges:
A friend of Solheim's said the two of them went with several others "to Hudson to hang out at the bars," the criminal complaint read. While attempting to leave Dick's Bar, the friend said, he inadvertently bumped into one among several eventual suspects and apologized.
The friend said the suspects closely followed him and one other person out with him that night down Walnut Street, and soon the two were fighting with three of the trailing males until the confrontation broke up.
The suspects, including Davidson, and some in Solheim's group soon crossed paths. Davidson got a knife from a van and stabbed Solheim at least twice, including once in the chest.
The friend said that as the suspects were leaving in a van, he stepped in front of the vehicle in order to have enough time to read the license plate. He gave the plate information to a sheriff's deputy, and that led authorities to Davidson.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
